Kamen Rider Transmit: game of Gods
by abodo
Summary: Archer Claymore Yari is a bitter youth who dislikes the world and humanity. It is then ironic that he is now in a battle that can decide its fate. Now he's fighting for survival to search for answers to his questions in a war as Kamen Rider Trance.
1. Chapter 1

PRENOTES: A kamen rider story using a combination of Ryuki and Blade(even though I've never seen it much) card system. This is a more refined version of the other kamen rider fic I put up so don't be surprised if the characters are the same. Thugh i say refined I just meant the storyline will make sense but quality might be a little lacking.

**3 scenebreakers for POV or place switch, 1 for flashback.**

**"" is for dialogue**

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People say that the value of a life cannot be measured. They believe that killing is a sin deserving of utmost contempt and disdain, what a bunch of hypocrites. They may say this but they kill insects and animals without a thought for food and comfort. Then there are the so-called vegetarians who want to save the animals. In the end the plants that they ingest are living things as well and to live they kill and eat the life they so wished to protect. In the end people just chalk it all up to required sacrifices. To everyone, the fact that death and killing has been a part of humanity from its most ancestral roots to this day is most disgusting and shameful but to me, the most disgusting thing is humanity's hypocrisy of how they value life. My name is Archer Claymore Yari and from this day on, I will be forced to participate in a game. A game where life is nothing more than the currency in which to gamble with.

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A boy with the right side of his hair all spiked up, left side smoothing over the side of his head accompanied by a back-length ponytail was walking through the streets with groceries in hand. His eyes were an uninteresting brown. He wore a pair of thick lensed glasses, a plain white t-shirt, a pair of denim shorts and sneakers. He wore piercings on his right ear, 5 silver bands and a silver cross dangling from the earlobe. He never really got out much in the last two years, so his skin got really pale. He was also a bit skinny since he skipped out on meals to pay rent and school.

When the teen reached his apartment, he shifted the four bags on his right hand to his left that carried another four to take out his key. He silently entered his abode which was the size of a traditional tea room and began to sort through his groceries of mostly junk foods, cup ramen and some canned goods for good measure. It wasn't that the boy couldn't cook, he just didn't feel like cooking too often. He opened his wall closet and stuffed his snacks on each shelf, top for canned goods, second for snacks and third for ramen, at the bottom he kept a small burner stove just in case for cooking and hotpots. With the next day being a sunday, the teen decided to just sleep in. He didn't feel like boiling water for the instant ramen he just bought.

The teen changed into some proper sleeping wear of shorts and a fresh cotton shirt after laying out his futon. He checked the alarm clock by his futon which read, 9:18 PM. It was pretty late so he lay his glasses by his alarm clock and slept through the hunger of skipping dinner.

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'Where am I?', the teen thought to himself. Everything was dark, there was absolutely nothing.

'Someone there?', came a deep voice from the black abyss.

'Hmm...', the teen-ager kept quiet to see what would happen.

'No answer huh', the darkness sighed.

Curiosity stirred in the teen. He's had wierd dreams before where mostly he's about to get killed, but this dream was just as odd but he felt no hostility from the darkness. It didn't feel malicious, just... muddled. 'There's someone here', he replied.

'Oh, thank God', the darkness seemed a bit relieved.

Interesting. The teen decided to humor this voice or whatever it was and introduced himself. 'Call me Archer', he drawled.

'Okay, Archer', the darkness tested the name. An awkward silence overcame the two before the darkness realized that he was forgetting something. 'Where are my manners. You may call me Kengo', the voice introduced itself.

Archer kept silent. The voice had a tone of superiority which he hated but it was somehow humbling itself as well which put him off balance. A moment later Archer responded, 'Is there a reason for our meeting?'

Kengo himself wondered why this happened and answered, 'I don't know myself but let's leave it to fate and end it there. I hate going into details.'

Archer couldn't help but leak a smidge of smugness in his next statement. 'Too bad since I'm the opposite.', Archer grinned to himself a bit. 'I'll let this one go though, I'll know what this meeting is for when the time comes. I'm not the type to press for non-existent details anyway.'

'That's rather good to know. I'm a bit in the dark myself', Kengo explained.

'This leaves me questioning how I find myself having an intelligent conversation with a figment of my imagination in a dream', Archer felt laughed at himself.

'Dream?', Kengo seemed surprised at this piece of information. He stuttered hopefully, 'S-so you're not dead?'

Archer raised an eyebrow, 'Should I be? I just went to bed, there should be nothing life-threatening about that'

'I see', Kengo said a bit hopefully.

'Is there something wrong?', Archer asked the disembodied voice.

'No, no there isn't. You should forget that this ever happened', Kengo suddenly said.

'Why?', Archer asked. The teen had a sinking feeling that he knew where this was going.

'It's nothing. Go wake up or whatever', Kengo finished and Archer could feel the presence leave.

'Hey, don't just start a conversation and leave abruptly. The least you could do is tell me why you suddenly called out like that', Archer demanded. One thing this teen hated was wasting his time.

Kengo hesitated and Archer could feel it. The disembodied voice knew from the short time of talking to this kid that he was as stubborn as a mule. 'Well I want to ask a favor', the voice surrendered.

'That's it? An errand?', Archer complained.

'Hey, you're the one who asked what the whole point of this thing was.', Kengo reminded him.

'Right', Archer grumbled. 'Me and my big mouth', he told himself.

Kengo heard anyway and would've smirked if he had a mouth. 'My request is simple and I wouldn't expect you to think much of it, much less do it.', Kengo paused, 'If you ever meet a girl with blonde chin-length hair and the most unique pair of topaz eyes... tell her I said hi'.

Before Archer could reply, he found his consciousness propelled back into his body and himself in the waking world. He grabbed the clock to check what time it was, it was 2:35 AM. "Great, it's nowhere near the crack of dawn and I'm wide awake.", Archer rubbed his eyes. He put on his glasses and took a drink of water from one of the two liter bottles he kept in the corner of the room.

Archer wiped his mouth of the excess liquid after downing a quarter of a bottle. "Was that a dream? Or was it...", Archer thought to himself. If it wasn't a dream then there was only one thing it could be. He would be happy if it wasn't a dream. The teen grinned, life was getting boring anyway. He hoped that this would be a goodway to kill time.

It was at that moment that he felt uneasy. It almost felt like someone was watching him except much more uncomfortable. He stepped out of his apartment and overlooked the city. Something was there, in the city, hunting. Archer felt chills run up and down his spine, as he ran back into his apartment to get changed. Whatever was out there in the city, he knew he was meant to see it.

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Faster, faster. I have to go faster. These were the only things that ran through a girl's mind as she ran through the streets of the city. The sound of a motorcycle's rev haunted her as she twisted in and out of alleys. She cursed herself for locking herself away in her room too much in the past since she really needed the exercise now.

The girl, as we follow her, ran into a big street as she heard the sound of the rumbling motor from behind. This wasn't good, so she ducked into the nearest alley she could find. How long was he going to follow her? Why wouldn't he just give up? 'Does this thing really mean that much?', the girl looked at the thing she was holding. It looked like one of those micro-handheld computers and a card that resembled a circuit board.

Up ahead, she saw a dumpster and decided to rest a bit before her legs cramped up from the abuse. She took a glance at the objects in her hand once again and remembered the face of its owner, "Kengo-kun". She could still remember his face when he saved her from that dark place, when he saved her from death.

She stuffed the handheld computer into her vest pocket and rubbed the sleeves of her black shirt for warmth. She was startled when the sound of the motor came louder. She immediately got up and dusted her beige skirt and ran, her shoes making a trailing echo of footfalls.

She had forgotten the person chasing after her. A very big mistake considering he was one of them, one of the players in this "game". She ran more and mroe but wherever she ran to the motor's echo would not dissipate. It would grow louder and louder as if taunting her, teasing her "Where are you my prey?". She felt completely scared.

On the next corner, her fear sky-rocketed though as she chanced upon a familiar figure. A horrible figure which she wished she could forget. She let loose a scream which ripped through the night.

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It should be around here. Whatever was wandering this city at this ungodly hour should be around here. Archer felt adrenaline pump through his veins at the mere excitement. This exertion warmed his body more than his flimsy shirt, jacket and jeans ever could against the cold night air. He ran faster, he could feel the presence getting ever closer. It was excited having found its prey. How he knew this he didn't know nor care. He'd sweat the details when he felt like it, right now something was going down and he was being invited. Whatever it was... "It better be worth my while", Archer grunted as he looked everywhere.

It was close now. The boy could feel it in every fiber of his being. He'd find whatever was goading him or his name wasn't Archer Claymore Yari! He turned an alley only to ram right into someone. Archer was somehow able to stay on his feet which was odd considering that the girl was running pretty fast and he wasn't all that strong. Another thing he noticed was that the girl was falling a bit slowly. He grabbed her outstretched hand on instinct and pulled her up on her feet.

The first thing Archer noticed was golden-grain hair that reached just past her chin and the most curious pair of golden green topaz eyes. 'It's her', Archer's eyes widened in shock.

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'If you ever meet a girl with blonde chin-length hair and the most unique pair of topaz eyes... tell her I said hi'

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'So that dream was...', Archer stopped that train of though when the girl began to struggle. Archer looked at her and asked, "What is it?". She was struggling too much for him to notice the shadow that crept up behind her.

The blonde girl was absolutely terrified to the point of showing signs of hysterics. "Look out!", she screamed as she shoved them both down. A wave of warm air hit Archer in the face and he saw that thing that he was searching for. The thing that was hunting in this city.

It was a humanoid monster with the features of an ant. It's head and arms were that of an ant and so were its legs. The body in itself was relatively human but covered in a tough carapace and exoskeleton rather than soft human skin. It was an angry red in color and the junction between its neck and body came a mane of fire.

"What the hell is that?", Archer asked in mocking curiosity. From his position on the ground.

"Ask that later, right now run!", the girl dragged Archer away from the thing. She ran into the main street and ducked into another alley.

Archer didn't quite take nicely being dragged around by a girl. She was leading him away from the thing he was looking for too. That ant thing was the one that was challenging him and he was gonna make sure to accept it. In response to the girl's dragging Archer tugged back which almost sent the girl falling on the back of her head.

"Hold up", Archer looked annoyed, "I don't know who you think you are but don't just suddenly drag people away from their destination."

The girl gave him an incredelous stare through her blonde bangs and screamed, "Are you crazy? There was a monster back there!"

Archer looked at her as if she was wierd, "So?".

The girl sighed in frustration and took the boy by the shoulders. "It could kill you!", she screamed.

"And that is exactly why I have to go back", Archer turned around to return before the ant-monster.

"What are you talking about?", the girl pulled him back by his sleeve.

"I want to see it. A real monster.", Archer told her plainly.

"Are you a kid or something? No sane person would want to get torn limb from limb by that thing!"

"I'm fifteen what do you expect?", Archer turned around once more to leave.

"Do you really plan on going there to die? Do you even know what that thing is?", the girl demanded.

Archer turned to give her a look before saying anything else. "First of all, I do plan on going there but it's not to die. Second, I have no idea whatever the hell that was, but one thing I know is that it's calling. It's calling for someone... for something to keep on living.", Archer explained. He turned to leave again but paused and looked back, "Oh yeah, A guy named Kengo told me to tell you that he said hi". And with that Archer went on to search for his target once again.

As Archer's shadow slinked into the alley, the girl held the objects given to her by someone. The person who loved her and whom she loved. The same person who gave her back her life. The person's name she spoke. "Kengo"

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Archer looked around the alley as he thought of why he was searching out the monster. The reason he was doing this would most likely be labeled by others as a hero thing, glory hog, bored teen, or whatever. Archer knew reality though, he knew he could and would die once he was before that monster once more. He still wanted to face it even if that were the case because he wanted to see, just how much he treasured his life. How much would he end up running and screaming in fear? Or would he really choose to die? He didn't know but he wanted to confirm just what type of person he was. He had tried to do so many other things that pushed his body beyond its limits but it wasn't enough. Was he different from the others? Or was he the same as those liars that only saved themselves? So many questions and he felt that this was the answer he was looking for.

At the next turn into another street, he met the monster. Burning crimson carapace and flaming mane being the largest tip-offs besides the fact it looked like an ant-man.

Archer looked it straight into the humanoid ant's segmented eyes and asked, "So you were the one calling me?".

The ant-man didn't reply as it charged forward with full intent of devouring this soul. It wouldn't let it get away like the last one.

Archer was quick to react and dove to the side. He got back on his feet in a smooth roll. The teen was caught by surprise when the ant-man was already in front of him, winding up for a kick. He dodged the kick by only a couple centimeters. The surprising thing was how. He hopped back with all his might and plunged his head back too much on instinct from the excess force his legs had given, Archer was pretty sure they weren't that strong. In a desperate attempt to keep himself from falling head-first into pavment, he held out his hands behind his head to catch the fall. It was then a very odd feeling came to him. The force of his hop fluidly switched from his body to his legs sending them flying back and him into a flip. The landing wasn't perfect but somehow still on his feet. Okay, he had never done a backflip in his life, he never even did a cartwheel before. How did he just do that?

The ant-man gave Archer no time to think it over as proven by the three pronged claw headed for the teen's head. Archer immediately ducked. In response to the strike, Archer sent a right punch squarely into the humanoid monster's belly. It barely fazed the beast which just back-handed him away.

Archer fell on his back and was surprised when he felt less pain than he should have. 'What the heck?', he thought. He had passed it off as his exercise over the years finally coming in along with the adrenaline but he couldn't do that now that he had come his far. For some reason he had not only gotten stronger but gained better sense of balance and reaction time as well. The real reason he didn't take as much damage as that backhand could dish out was not only because his pain threshold increased but also because he had been able to hop back just before the hit and reduced the impact.

What was with this? Archer couldn't understand how he could change without his notice. Just before he slept he was just as normal as the other guy and now he was like a professional acrobatic athlete or something. Now was not the time to think about that though. Archer dodged a tackle from the ant-man. This was a fight for survival, hesitating on such unimporant things would just end with him being dead. Dead? When did he start worrying about that?

Archer smiled as he was sent flying with a side swipe of the ant-man's claws. It came at him again but the teen decided to try something out and caught the monster's claw. Using the ant-man's momentum, Archer threw it over his shoulder and right into a wall. Archer wasn't finished as he stomped at the ant-man. The ant-man took hold of his leg and tossed him away.

Archer landed in a heap after hitting a wall in his trajectory and coughed out, "No effect huh?". Archer was sure of one thing though, the face was the most vulnerable part right now.

the ant-man was approaching him when Archer noticed the inhumanly heavy footfalls. The monster grabbed him by the back of his shirt but before it could do anything, Archer forcefully shoved the ant-man against the wall and hammered away at its face. He didn't get anymore than three hits before the ant-man's struggle tossed him off. Archer was tenacious though and was fortunate enough that the ant-man was disoriented with the hits it took to the head.

Archer came at the ant-man again and this time with a flying kick that connected to the ant-man's head. The monster staggered back and shook its head. 'Don't even think that I'm gonna go easy', Archer grunted as he landed another flying kick. 'Just a little more', Archer panted in exhaustion.

The monster thought otherwise though. The flames on its neck began to burn fiercely and seemingly out of control. "What the heck?", Archer was caught off guard and shielded his eyes from the bright mass of flames which was the ant-man. Heated air came in waves off of the monster and threatened to slam Archer off his feet and onto the pavement.

The intensity of the heat died down which was a self-assigned signal for Archer to put his arms down and see what happened. The ant-man he had been wrestling before had just changed. The carapace which was a deep crimson was now bright coal red. The mane of flame on its neck was now running over the arms, legs and head of the monster. Archer got ready to attack but stopped when he saw the ant-man take a step forward and left scorch marks onto the ground. Archer decided to throw all caution to the winds however knowing he wouldn't last if the fight extended any longer.

In a foolhardy attempt, Archer ran up to the transformed ant man with a punch to the face. The ant-man had other plans though when it swung its claw out and the flames that ran along its arm separated into a projectile fireball that hit Archer square in the chest.

Archer was sent flying back with one jacket less than when he had charged in. The explosion wasn't really all that big and there wasn't much fire so it left little burns on the teen. The impact seemed to have been quite powerful though, the stinging on his skin and eyes from the heat and light didn't help.

"One shot", Archer cursed. "I fought all the way up to this point and I get knocked down in one shot?", Archer felt his anger rise from the indignation. "Am I gonna die just like this?", he thought.

'It was your choice.', his voice of reason popped up out of nowhere. 'isn't this what you chose? You came to ascertain whether you'd go at it fearlessly or run to save your own life', it told him. 'Don't you already have the answer? Didn't you charge against it with no worry for your life? Are you still unsatisfied with the answer that you've reached?', it questioned him.

Archer tried to rationalize his thoughts. Yes, he had come here just for that. To find the answer, to his questions. He couldn't accept it though for some reason and he tried to figure out why. Slowly, he got off the ground and began to stand on his own feet. He almost fell over but somehow stayed up with the support of his hands. 'Ah', Archer realized why he wasn't satisfied. 'I'm not dying yet.', he looked at his own hands. A violent cough ripped from his throat, blood spilled onto his open palm and agony spread like a web across his chest. Still he thought, 'I'm not yet at my limit. I can still move.'. 'I'm in immense pain but I can still live', the teen concluded. He watched as the ant-man observed him like a predator hunting its prey, trying to estimate the value of the hunt.

"Hey!", called a familiar female voice from the alley. Archer turned his head as quickly as the pain would permit him to see the one who shouted. It was the blonde girl from before, the one who dragged him away from this monster he was facing.

She began to dig into the pockets of her jacket and extracted something from it. "Catch!", she screamed. All of a sudden she threw the thing at Archer who had to dive to the side in order to do as she said.

The teen quickly inspected the things she'd tossed him. It was a folding handheld computer unit and a card. He looked at her incredelously with a face that plainly screamed "What the hell?".

"Turn it on and put the card in the slot", the blonde girl instructed.

Archer turned the computer on and looked for the slot to insert the card in. He didn't have the time to leisurely search the thing though as the ant-man approached. It clawed at Archer but the teen rolled under its arm and continued to search for the slot. 'Found it', he thought as he dodged a claw swing and inserted the card.

"WELCOME RIDER", the screen read.

"What the heck?", Archer shouted in confusion and dodged another shot.

"Type in: Rider gear standby", the girl shouted.

'Fine', Archer thought as he quickly typed it in.

"RIDER GEAR, STANDING BY", the handheld unit sounded. Archer looked at the screen which said, "AWAITING TRANSMISSION AND VOICE VERIFICATION".

"What now?", he shouted in frustration. Archer glanced at the flaming ant-man and stepped away from its approach. 'Transmission. Waiting. Verify. voice.', Archer reviewed the four keywords in his mind. He looked at the handheld unit and checked if it looked internet capable. "So that's it?", he asked himself. He stood tall now, despite his injuries' protest, against the monster's approach. Archer flipped the device close and held it up shouting, "Transmit!".

The last thing Archer heard before everything turned white was the robotic voice of the device proclaiming, "TRANSMIT".

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The blonde girl watched the boy whom she had entrusted Kengo's memento to from the alley. She knew he would use it well. She may not have known completely what was going on or why there are things like that ant-man running amok or that player, but if there was one thing she knew. She was sure that the last owner of that device would want for that boy to have it. The girl whispered, "Isn't that right? Kengo?".

She watched as Archer was bathed in bluish white light that shot out from the sky. He emerged in an outfit wildly different from his charred shirt and jeans. Over his skin and body was a tight-looking body suit that actually felt more comfortable than one would think. Over it was a chestplate and broad shoulder armor that looked solid and attatched directly to the shoulders so as not to hinder movement. The metal head piece looked like an insect's with huge segmented eyes. Bracers of the same metal clasped onto his forearms and shins but much sturdier and bulkier looking than the chest plate. Finally the belt materialized and the transformation was complete.

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Archer emerged from his state of obliviousness to the world around him and looked down at himself. He felt the suit he was in which was way different from his clothes and looked down at himself. It wasn't really a bad feeling nor was it a good look, the main problem for Archer was the wait of the pieces of steel strapped to him though. Archer's attention switched from his changed-self to the ant-man when it released a shriek of what could be described as delight. Archer only had time to glance before he was knocked away by a tackle from the creature, right through a wall.

Archer shook his helmeted head and said, "Whoa". The teen surveyed the damage to his surroundings and found that it didn't hurt quite as much as it should have. The only pain he could feel actually came from wounds he had before he changed and only bits from the attack just now. The ant-man came through the opening and picked up Archer's transformed self by the neck and threw him back out the alley with a fireball right behind him. They had hit and the ant-man continued the bombardment.

Archer kept taking the hits but the pain he felt like stings compared to the wound he took earlier from a fireball without the armor. Okay so he was able to take the hits now but that wasn't much use if he couldn't move. If he couldn't move then he wouldn't be able to fight back. It was at that time the suit showed that it was one piece of technological marvel.

"INSERT GRAVEYARD IN SOUL SLOT", a voice resounded in his head. A vision of a rectangular object being slid into the hollow of his belt was shown to him. The rectangular object looked oddly familiar. Archer remembered the handheld computer which he faintly felt in his hand and immediately got out of the ant-man's line of sight to avoid another salvo of fireballs. Luckily, the fireballs made a lot of smoke and dust so it didn't notice the teen leave the target area. Archer immediately looked at the thing in his hand for any similarities with the vision he saw but was surprised that it had transformed as well, exactly into the thing in the vision had shown. It had turned into a metal case of sorts with lines reminiscent of a circuit board like the ones on the card from before.

Archer looked at the hollow on his belt and thought, 'Was this the one in the vision? This better work'. He slid the case into the slot in the belt buckle which went smoothly and clicked in place. For a moment Archer felt nothing, after a few moments the lines on the case began to light up in blue and spread into similar lines that littered throughout the suit as well. The teen felt the suit's weight seemingly lessen and the power that coursed through him was strengthening him.

The ant-man had already burst out of the building when it noticed Archer's absence in its frenzied attacks. It saw the transformed teen and charged. Archer, who was now in shape to fight, saw no problem and met it head on.

The clash sent a small pulse of rushing air that blew through the alley. It was so strong even the blonde girl had her hair messed up and blown into her face.

The ant-man and Archer were locked in a test of strength. Both participating in a more extreme game of mercy, trying to break the other's hand/claw till it was rendered useless. The ant-man sent flames from its body over its arms and onto Archer to burn the transformed teen. Archer didn't mind it at first but the temperature in the suit began to increase unbearably. In the end Archer tossed the ant-man down onto the pavement in an impressive show of strength.

"Stop, drop and roll!", Archer screamed as he did just that to put the fire on his burning self out. Archer stopped when the last of the flames went out and glared at the dazed monster in indignation. "That hurt!", Archer ran at the monster with a right hook which sent the monster down on the ground once more.

Archer picked up the monster and sent a left straight to its torso. The ant-man staggered back from the blow. These rough actions were too much on Archer's already battered body though. If he had to guess he already had a couple bruised ribs or cracked bones from the explosion. He had to end it before the injuries got worse.

The teen decided to use the best move he had in his arsenal now. He ran forward and jumped with a spin. In mid-air he extended his right leg to deliver a powerful flying kick to the monster. The attack struck true on the ant-man's head. It was for only a mere fraction of a second but while Archer's foot was still on the monster's head, it acted up on impulse and began to expand its flames again like it did the first time, only much stronger. The energy released hurled Archer away. He could do nothing but watch as the ant-man transformed once more.

Archer landed on his back and rolled into a crouch. he tried to stand up but his underlying wounds were beginning to act up. 'This is not good', he thought, 'If only I had more power'. He clenched his fist in frustration, then it hit him. If the metal container was the powersource then there had to be something to it that he could use to give him more power right? He checked and noticed a small opening on the side of the metal container. He reached for it and pulled something out, a card. "A card?", Archer thought.

It had the picture of a yellow and blue beetle on it with the name "Storm Beetle". The back resembled the card that came with the device from the girl. Great, a card. how was it supposed to help him now? Toss it at the ant-man? 'Bright idea Archer', he reprimanded himself. No time to beat himself up though, the ant-man had finished its final transformation.

It looked completely different now, with sharper features and a more formidable looking exoskeleton. Almost like a flaming red knight.

Archer cursed his lack of luck as the monster attacked and he took the blows. They actually hurt quite a bit now and his ribs were definitely cracking at this point. A knee to the face after the assault sent Archer's head whipping back. He almost fell with the momentum but pride and anger caught up. He wasn not going down without a fight. A large "CRACK" sounded as he punched the ant-man in the face which fazed it. It was a bit late when he realized, "Did punches usually make a cracking sound?".

Archer felt something smashed up in the palm of his right hand which he used to punch the ant-man. He opened it and fragments fell from his grasp. Last he remembered, he was holding a card in that hand, what happened to it? Whatever. Archer decided that if he wanted answers, he'd better survive this first.

The ant-man stood faceing off against Archer. It felt just like at the start. The monster was challenging him again. Archer glared at it and voiced the unspoken agreement between them, "This'll be the last one". The ant-man leaned down, preparing to rush him. Archer leaned his right side back to wind up his right punch. With his body in its current state, it was the best thing available. The atmosphere in the alley tensed. It was utterly silent, almost as if all the prior explosions, screams and shrieks never occured.

A trash can's lid fell and that signaled the two combatants to spur on to victory. the ant-man rushed in with flames in full blast to the point none of its red armor-like carpace was showing anymore.

Archer stood his ground and let the ant-man come. He would reserve his energy for the strike and use the opponent's strength against them in a counter. The ant-man was right in front of him now and he moved to deliver the counter blow. Within that instant, Archer's knuckles sparked and cackled to life with electricity. Archer didn't notice and concentrated on delivering the counter. He was able to avoid the ant-man's attack and bury his fist in the ant-man. The ant-man's momentum causing Archer to slide back even though his feet were planted firmly on the ground.

The fist continued to crackle and light about with the electricity. The fire enveloping the ant-man's body dissipated and revealed Archer's electrocuting fist lodged in the monster's neck. "Graaagh!", Archer pushed forward on his right punch. The cackling electricity intensified more and more till there was an explosion which enveloped the two.

The smoke began clearing, exposing Archer in his transformed state staring at the hand which had dealt the final blow. 'Such power', Archer thought amazed and imagined all that power gathered in his hand once more. The air around him danced with lights and converged on his palm. The transformed teen noticed the lights gathering into his hand and was half-blinded from the shining object that they formed on his hand. When the lights faded, Archer took a look and found a card like the last one in his hand. It had the same circuit board-like lines on the back but with the dfference of a red ant on the front with the name "Vulcant" on it.

Archer let his arms drop to his sides. He sighed out heavily as if to expel all the questions and problems in his mind. He looked up to the starry sky and thought, 'I survived'.

The girl smiled as she saw that the boy had won. He was able to use that device and came out alive. She stepped out of the alley to approach him but paused as a familiar sound of a motor reached her ears. She stood horrified as the source of the sound was in her view. She screamed at the transformed teen in a panic, "Run!".

Archer was surprised by the girl's scream and looked at her to see what was wrong. In the next half-second he realized why she told him to run though. In that half-second something went over Archer's head which caught his attention. "You-", Archer began but was cut off by a simultaneous blow from a double axe strike to his chest and a motorcycle from behind. It was too fast for Archer to even register what had happened properly as he lay on the pavement from pain. He looked at his assailant to confirm what he had seen.

His assailant landed properly and stopped the unmanned bike which hit Archer from behind with one hand, swinging it around. As the attacker stood still, Archer was now sure of what he saw. The attacker was wearing gear similar to his with a helmet having a visor like that of bird wings. Archer whispered, 'Kamen rider'.


	2. Chapter 2

PRENOTES: And so it begins eh? Second chappy, new characters, introductions and everyday life only I'm araid.

**Scene breakers 3 for POV change and 1 for flashback.**

--

--

--

"Kamen rider", Archer grunted as he saw the stranger. A vest like chest plate with no shoulders, light forearm bracers, light greaves, an armored belt and a helm with the wing-visor. Underneath all those was the same seemingly skin-tight material. Archer got up and asked, "Why did you attack me? Are you an enemy?". Their suits were definitely of similar make, why? The question haunted Archer's mind. Did this guy make them?

The stranger ignored him and set down his bike.

"I asked you a question. Who are you?", Archer demanded so forcefully that he almost fell on his face from jarring his wounds.

The stranger flipped one of his crescent semi-circle axes, and with a simple flip, turned the axe into a rifle. Archer couldn't even react as he was shot back onto the ground. All this transpiring in a second.

'What the heck?', Archer thought that this was familiar. He got back up, coughing. "If you ain't gonna tell me", he took a fighting stance, "then I guess I'll have to beat it out of you".

The wing-visored rider just reverted his rifle back to an axe and brought the other one up to bear in a stance. Without further ado, both charged forward to clash. Archer sent a right hook with full intent on smashing that wing-visor which looked as good a target as any while the stranger brought his axe down on the wounded teen. Archer took the driving step when he was in range but stretched his ribs, causing pain and maybe some damage. He missed his timing and swing where as the stranger struck true with his axe.

The blow almost knocked him down but before his knees could give in the wing-visored rider hit him with an upward strike that kept him on his feet. It didn't stop there as the wing-visored rider struck a flurry of blows at Archer. As a finale, the stranger turned both of his axes into rifles and fired blast shots right into Archer's chest. Even with the plating, Archer could still feel a lot of pain. He was on the ground now, in agony and panting. His vision was swimming between darkness and the dim moonlit alley. The last thing Archer saw before blacking out was an axe coming right down on him.

--

--

--

"Gwaaagh!", Archer bolted upright on his futon. Wait, his futon? The teen looked around and saw his familiar one room apartment. He looked at himself and saw his hands and a fresh cotton shirt on him. He touched his face and felt all the familiar features, except for his glasses. No wonder everything looked blurred. He searched for his glasses. Archer was surprised when someone put them on him and his vision cleared. He looked up a bit and saw pale topaz eyes hidden behind the long bangs of a girl with chin length blonde hair. She was wearing a black long sleeve shirt that contrasted with her pale skin, a brown leather vest and a beige skirt.

"You...", Archer recognized the girl. So everything wasn't just a dream.

She watched his stunned reaction and said, "Yes, from last night."

"What happened? What about that guy? How did I get here?", Archer asked in rapidfire.

The girl was a bit overwhelmed as she knelt by his side. "One at a time please", she held up her hands in a placating manner. She was a lot more soft-spoken than he had first thought when they met in that alley. She made herself comfortable before asking, "What would you like to know first?".

Archer spoke without missing a beat. "What happened?", Archer questioned.

The girl wrung her hands and said, "You were attacked". The bedridden teen made eye contact with her, silently demanding details. She looked down, "by the one chasing me".

"Chasing you?", Archer quirked an eyebrow.

The girl looked a bit afraid when she pointed out, "Because of that". Her finger was trailed on the device beside Archer's futon.

Archer picked up the blue micro-computer in his hand and brought it before his eyes. A card fell and he recognized it as the one he inserted into the device to call on that armor. He'd understand why anyone would want it with all the power it gave him but the guy back then was way stronger than him. Seeking power from something weaker than himself didn't make sense. "Is it because of that armor?", Archer verified.

"I'm sorry but I don't know either.", she shook her head.

"I see", Archer pressed his lips into a firm line as his habit when displeased. He looked back to her again and asked, "How'd I get here then? Last I remember I was about to be split like firewood by that guy".

The girl looked at him as she remembered what happened and replied, "Actually..."

--

The axe was about to come down on the transformed teen. She couldn't bear it any longer and screamed, "Stooop!".

The stranger stopped just in time before his axe made its mark. He was surprised when the girl he'd been chasing protectively covered the one who received the Transcender. If he remembered correctly, she was the former Trans' girlfriend.

"Please, don't kill him", the blonde girl cried to the masked stranger.

The stranger tightened his grip on his axe in frustration. When he was finally so close. Why did his resolve break so easily?

"Please", she pleaded as tears began to drip down her face. 'This is Kengo's legacy', she thought desperately.

The stranger suddenly tipped his head up and spun around. He rode his bike and revved it up. In less than ten seconds he was gone.

The girl watched the stranger go and regained her regular heart rate when she heard the sound of his motot no more. What was she thinking when she rushed out like that? 'It was Kengo's legacy', a voice in her head answered. She gripped the soft fabric of the transformed teen she had just saved. In a flash of light, he turned back into his injured self, burnt shirt and all. The girl sat in the empty alley, wondering what to do.

--

--

--

Same Night

The stranger with the wing-shaped visor rode his sleek machine up a building and landed on the roof in a screeching spin to cushion the impact. He got off the bike as it faded in the outline of circuit lines that glowed on it. The rider undid his armor in the same manner as his bike and revealed young boy barely in his teens. He wore a brown punk shirt with a design of a guy screaming "I'll kick your ass" underneath a red, black and blue cross-lined short-sleeve polo. He wore loose jeans with black and red sneakers that scraped the cement roof. He had blood red-eyes, unruly black hair in no real style. His face told of youth set emotionless with jaded sorrow.

"What are you doing here?", the red-eyed teen asked the figure before him.

The man before the red-eyed teen looked a couple years older. The guy wore a lanky green shirt, dark jeans and black-white sneakers with the black being the main color. Over his lean shoulder hung a knapsack. The guy's hair was cut short reminiscent of a buzz cut but left alone to grow. He had a devilish mischief that seemed to surround him always. A silver bracelet wrapped around his right wrist as did a silver chain around his neck.

The guy snickered before answering, "I just wanted to see how he would fare is all".

"He's not all that strong. Why are you interested in how he does at all?", the red-eyed boy drawled.

"You really are clueless aren't you?", the guy taunted the red-eyed boy.

"I should kill you right here and now", the red-eyed boy snarled.

The elder looking of the two turned around to face his visitor. "Can you really?", he told the boy with a challenge in his eyes. He grinned and commented on the incident just then, "I see old habits die hard. You still believe in that chivalry crap huh?". he walked up to the crimson-eyed boy which showed the difference in height between them with the guy being at least two inches taller. "In this game, things like that won't save you". With that the guy walked past the shorter boy.

The crimson-eyed teen spun around but the guy had already gone. Anger was imminent on the boy's face. He didn't trust that guy at all, not then, not now. As far as he was concerned that buzz head was an enemy.

--

"-so we somehow survived that night", the girl finished her recollection.

"But that doesn't explain how we got here", Archer told her.

"About that", the girl looked a bit unsure of how to say it.

Suddenly the door burst open and in stormed a girl with lightly tanned skin and dark chocolate locks. She quickly but carefully, so as not to embarass herself with her stunningly short but cute yellow one piece dress, took off her shoes to enter the apartment. "You're awake Archer-kun", the brunette hugged the injured teen.

"Urk, not you again", Archer grimaced to himself, more due to the girl hugging him rather than the physical discomfort the hold caused on his injuries.

"What happened to you? Are you alright? Was it another fight?", the brunette fussed.

Now Archer knew what the blonde must have felt when he pelted her with questions. "Geez , slow down. Why do you always have to be so damn clingy", Archer shoved the girl off of him.

The brunette looked a bit embarassed and fixed her hair, from the twin ponytails tied with omamoris to her side-bangs tied with two rune-etched wooden hairclips, and clothes to look presentable. "Sorry, but I was just so worried. You're injuries were pretty heavy", the girl began to take out a number of disinfectants and rolls of bandages.

"It's just a scratch", Archer waved it off.

"A scratch!?", the blonde female on the teen's other side gaped in shock. "You were almost killed!", she told him.

Neither seemed to mind the blonde's outburst however as the brunette said, "Well, it was just a couple of broken ribs, nothing I couldn't reset, the regular cuts and bruises and first degree burns on your chest, which should have healed by now."

"Tch!, I've been through worse", Archer sulked as the girl bade him to take his shirt off to change the bandages he could currently feel holding his ribs together and to apply some disinfectant to his wounds.

"What?", the blonde couldn't believe this.

The girl tried to keep Archer still as she took off the bandages and applied disinfectant. "I know. I saw and treated most of them after all. Concussions, stab wounds, fractures, bites, burns. The only thing left is for you to get shot.", the brunette said offhandedly but frowned when she noticed something. "It's pretty amazing how you came out of those unmarred.", the brunettte pouted enviously at Archer's smooth skin. It betrayed none of the injuries that the brunette girl listed only moments ago.

"How the hell should I know?", Archer said grumpily. He wished she would finish faster. His current situation of being injured and shirtless with two girls in close proximity wasn't exactly comfortable for him.

"Why so angry?", the brunette stuck her tongue out at him. "Here", she helped him back into the cotton shirt after working on his injuries.

Archer knew why he was angry. he just didn't want to tell anyone. His scowl met the blonde's and gave her quite a scare. The blonde misinterpreted this and mistook it as a sign that he was angry at her. "I-I-I-I'm s-s-sor-r-rry for g-g-etting you inv-v-olved i-in th-th-that f-f-fight.", the blonde apologized shakily with a bow.

"You got involved in a fight over this girl!", the brunette screamed in surprise.

"Gods! No need to shout woman. I'm not deaf", Archer glared at the brunette and gave an accusing look to the blonde for letting that info slip, he wanted to keep it secret if he could help it.

"Well, it's kind of complicated", the blonde woman started nervously. "You see..."

"It was nothing", Archer cut the blonde off before she said anything stupider. From what he gathered, the brunette knew nothing about what really happened the night before and he would love to keep it that way, though he was vexed that she knew a tiny bit of it.

"Well that was rude", the brunette crossed her arms over her chest. "You shouldn't interrupt people in the middle of their talk", she turned to the blonde and asked, "isn't that right? err...", the brunette tried to remember if she knew the girl's name.

Apparently not since the blonde said, "Oh, uh my name is Luminaria Solstice. Sorry, for-"

"Right, Lu-chan", the brunette interrupted Luminaria.

Archer's brow twitched as he said, "Don't preach if you can't practice."

The brunette squinted her eyes at them and asked accusingly, "Oh really now?".

"Yes, now if you're done then leave", Archer sighed and pointed her to the door which wasn't really all that hard to miss.

The brunette sulked and said, "And this is how you treat the person who saved your life and honored your selfish requests". The blonde woman sweatdropped as a backdrop with unforgiving waves chopping against a desolate cliff appeared with the brunette wretchedly cried at the summit while wearing a tattered kimono.

A vein popped from Archer's fore-head and exploded, "Fine! Just stop being so melodramatic."

"Win!", the brunette gave a cheeky smile as she did a victory sign with a cheeky grin.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

Thundering smacks resounded against Archer's apartment door. "Dear God, not the other one.", Archer facepalmed. The day was getting worse and worse.

"Yari! Get out here!", a guy's voice muffled through the door.

Archer reluctantly tossed the covers off of him and got up from his futon to answer the door. The teen opened the door and barely dodged a punch he had expected from his visitor. "So you finally came out you coward!", Archer heard his visitor's taunt.

"Shut up and go away Kanji. I'm not in the mood.", Archer told the guy in front of his doorstep. He was Archer's classmate and unofficial rival of sorts. It's a long story but the guy's full name is Shindou Kanji. The guy looked pretty straight-laced with his well combed mop of matted down spikes for hair and plain get-up that consisted of a plain white shirt, jeans and a sweat-band on his right wrist.

"Feh, how many times have I told you to stay away from Shiki?", Shindou threatened ignoring Archer's statement.

Archer just sighed as he said, "Just how many times do I have to tell you that she's the one coming to me and not the other way around?".

"How about we settle this like men? If I win, you stay away from Shiki and if you win I won't ever bother you again.", Shindou told him.

Archer looked at him like he was an idiot. "That won't change anything", the exasperated teen tried in vain to warn the other guy.

Shindou pointed a challenging finger at Archer and declared, "Be down in the parking lot in 5 minutes if you're really a man". With that Shindou went and charged of ahead.

Archer watched him go down the stairs before going back to his apartment to put his shoes on. Luminaria saw this and asked, "Are you really going?".

"Yeah", Archer answered as he fit his feet in his sneakers.

"But you're injured", the blonde stood up in panic.

"I'm fine", Archer half-lied. True his injuries were hurting, but he'd fought with more injuries than this before and his injuries didn't hurt compared to back then. 'Is it because of that power?', he thought to himself about the strength that filled himwhen the armor covered his body. He didn't notice he had been staring at Luminaria the whole time.

"So is he gone?", came a muffled question from one of Archer's cabinets.

"He's gone Shiki", Archer sighed. That guy just couldn't leave him alone and all for the naggy woman.

"From the building", the brunette got out from the cabinet.

"He will be soon", Archer exited his apartment.

"Will he be okay?", Luminaria asked the brunette worriedly as she took hold of the transformation device.

"Archer? Don't worry, he'll be fine", the brunette dusted herself off.

"I hope so", Luminaria looked down thoughtfully.

"He won't last five minutes", Shiki said quite happily.

"What?", Luminaria exclaimed once more.

Shiki looked at the blonde and came to a realization, "Oh right, you didn't know but there's no way for Archer to win, even under normal circumstances. I mean they've fought before and he's never won. The difference in skill is just too high".

"Aren't you worried with his injuries then?", Luminaria asked in a panic.

The brunette actually had a slight frown when she said, "I'm actually glad he has those injuries, with those he shouldn't be able to push himself so far. that way the fight won't get too long and his injuries will be kept to a minimum."

"Wha-what do you mean?", the blonde asked curiously.

Shiki thought a bit before answering as she gathered the medical supplies she used. "You see", she began, "Shindou and Archer have always been fighting for a long time now. Almost everyday, Shindou would come over and challenge Archer to a duel like you saw earlier. Archer never won though, Shindou is a trained fighter after all". Shiki smiled sadly as she remembered how Archer was after every fight, "He would fight till all he could do was crawl and bleed. Not giving up until one of them collapsed and couldn't move. It never got that bad though since Shindou would stop. With those injuries, I'm hoping that the fight will end before it reaches that stage."

Luminaria didn't know what to say to that. This person, Archer, who was entrusted with Kengo's legacy. Just what went on in his head to put himself in these situations? Looking for that monster, going into a fight that he'll never win while injured.

"Hey", Shiki's voice cut into Luminaria's thoughts.

"Yes?", the blonde asked in reply.

"Wanna see how the fight goes?", Shiki gave the blonde a cheeky smile. She held up the bag of 1st aid suplies and explained, "We're gonna have to patch him up again after all".

--

--

--

In the underground parking area of Archer's apartment waited Shindou. The smell of exhaust heavy in the air, left by the cars that parked in it. It was rather dim but the lights were enough to actually see. No one was there so the fight would hopefully be uninterrupted. Shindoue heard footsteps and looked in that direction.

"You actually showed", Shindou commented as Archer walked in, showing no signs of injuries whatsoever.

"I'm not exactly gonna let a chance to get away from those girls pass now.", Archer tensed all over for the fight.

"Don't act so carefree", Shindou charged in suddenly with an open palm strike that nailed Archer square in the chest and sent the injured teen on his back.

Archer hit the ground and coughed from the sharp exchange of air in his lungs. 'What the hell was that?', Archer thought as he slowly stood back up. 'it barely hurt'. The pain was already going away and Archer stood strong.

"You got a bit tougher", Shindou flexed the hand he attacked with. It felt like hitting breaking a concrete block when he hit Archer. The challenger shook the thought off though, still assured of his victory. "Ha!", he dashed forward wi th a flurry of blows.

Archer saw the attack coming and what should have been a blur of hands and feet became slow motion to him. 'Like last night', Archer thought as he ducked, jumped and weaved through every attack. On a whim, Archer caught one hand and pulled on it, dragging Shindou towards him, and sent him staggering back with a kick to the side.

'What the heck was that?', Shindou clutched his already bruising side. 'He could barely even react to my punches before and now he's dodging them like they're nothing? And what was with that kick? it was way too strong to come from him.', Shindou grit his teeth in pain.

"Hmm...", Archer examined their current position. He was injured but clearly winning from the way he stood tall and here was Shindou who was doubled over, kneeling before him as he clutched his side. "Rather unexpected huh?", Archer held Shindou up by his face.

"Freak!", was all Shindou screamed as he knocked Archer's hand away and dealt a powerful blow to the abdomen which, added unto Archer's older wounds, hurt the powered up teen. Archer's knees buckled under the damage and took a knee to the nose. His head snapped back but before he could even regain proper focus of his senses, Shindou hit him with an upwards kick to the chin which sent him to the ground. Shindou was now the one on his feet and Archer back on he ground. "Didn't huff think huff that I'd be huff forced to get serious with you", Shindou said through heavy breaths.

'Urk... That hurt alot. He never hit that fast or strong before. Wait? Fast? Strong?' "You bastard! You were holding back on me this whole time?", Archer got up with a menacing roar. "You're dead", Archer growled in indignation at the blow to his ego. he had actually believed that Shindou had been fighting him seriously all this time. Archer dashed forward and Shindou reacted by strafing off to the side but was too slow. Archer nailed him in the face with a right that sent him flying. Archer wasn't about to let Shindou off that easy though. With his now inhuman power, speed and time awareness, Archer caught Shindou's foot before he could fly-off and dragged him back only to slam him into the ground with a punch to the gut.

Shindou couldn't get a hit in, this guy was a monster. How'd he get this strong? No human can be this strong. Shindou began to lose feeling in his body as Archer began to beat him senseless, literally.

Shiki and Luminaria were terrified at the sight that greeted them when they reached the parking lot. Archer had Shindou pinned to a wall and blood was everywhere, on the walls, floors, Shindou and Archer. Shindou was bruised all over and looked to have multiple fractures. his lip was cut on three different places, his nose was broken and he was bleeding from his mouth.

"Archer!", Shiki screamed. She was expecting for Archer to be the one being pinned down by Shindou. She didn't expect him to win, not to mention half-kill the guy.

Archer noticed the two girls and looked back to an unconscious Shindou. The guy's face was so badly beaten he was almost unrecognizable now. Archer had longed to beat this annoyance as bad as he did now but realized that it was meaningless. Stronger, he had to fight something stronger. Archer tossed Shindou down and walked away. he was two paces from the exit before he passed out.

Luminaria went to check on Shindou while Shiki immediately went for Archer. Shiki took a mere three minutes before she immediately diagnosed, "He overexerted his ribs."

Luminaria on the other hand checked if Shindou was breathing properly and applying first aid. It was at this time she stared at Archer's unconscious form and questioned herself, 'was it right for me to give him the Transcender?'


	3. Chapter 3

**Scenebreakers 3 for POV and location change. One is for flashback.**

**--**

**--**

**--**

There was so much blood. Luckily, Shiki and Luminaria were able to hide Shindou and Archer before anyone else saw. Right now, Shindou was on the way to a hospital courtesy of Shiki. The brunette seemed unaffected by the amount of carnage but the little things like the slight quiver in her breath gave way her fear. Luminaria couldn't blame her. She felt the same, only much less restrained. After Shiki was finished with resetting and tightening of Archer's bandages to keep his ribs in proper healing order, she went over to Shindou and asked for Luminaria's help in moving the bloody mess back up to Archer's room. Preparations were painstaking and the transfer was a balance of delicacy and rough haste. They had to make sure not to jostle the wounds further but they also had to make sure that no one would see them in midday as well. It was hard but they succeeded. Shindou's wounds were cleaned and treated with the best first aid could do before Shiki took him to the hospital.

Luminaria almost felt jealous of Shiki. "I have a friend who's a doctor. He'll take care of Kengo without asking too many questions. Till I come back, please stay with Archer. He's pretty unstable even now. I won't be long.", the brunette's words echoed in Luminaria's mind.

The frightened blonde could barely stand being in the presence of Archer. She didn't know that when she gave him the device that he would use it so violently. She had given him the power to do evil while all she had hoped was for him to survive. She gripped her skirt as she silently asked herself, "Did I do the right thing? Kengo-san?".

Police sirens blared outside as men in blue swarmed the underground crime scene. The blood was left there and it wouldn't be long till questions were asked but as long as possible, Luminaria wished that no one would approach her ticking time-bomb of a charge. There was no telling when he might do something like he did awhile ago.

"Nnnrrgh", Archer groaned awake as he opened his eyes. The frightened blonde immediately went to his side in case he sat up or something. Shiki had told her not to let Archer move his ribs too much. Archer saw Luminaria reaching over and pressed his rising shoulders back down. He tried to sit-up again but the blonde held firm.

Luminaria saw Archer about to open his mouth to ask why she was holding him down and immediately answered the unspoken question, "Your ribs won't heal properly if you keep moving them. Shiki-san told me".

"I see", Archer quitted his struggle to sit upright at those words. Shiki had told him a lot of things concerning his past injuries, she was usually right about them. The fact that he overstrained his ribs during the fight was just another thing to add to the already long list. "Speaking of which, where is that brunette bimbo?", Archer looked around. "Scratch that. What happened? Last I remember, I was beating the hell out of Shindou and... Nngh", Archer raised a hand to his temple. Some kind of pressure from inside his brain made his head ache.

With what happened just minutes before fresh in her memory, Luminaria let go of his shoulders, afraid that he might go wild again or something.

'You're too angry', a voice spoke in Archer's mind.

The teen-ager was struggling with the pain. Lunamaria cowered in the corner as she watched him keep himself from thrashing about.

'Calm down', the voice commanded in Archer's mind.

"Gyaaaargh!", Archer screamed out much to Luminaria's terror.

'Quiet!', the voice overpowered all other thoughts and sensations. Immediately, Archer fell still on his futon. His breathing was quick but deep with limbs sprawled all over and tangling the sheets. His back was to his watcher, not giving her a clue to wethe r he was alright or not.

The blonde, who was currently scared out of her wits and shaking quite badly, gathered her courage and crawled cautiously over to Archer's side. "Are you okay?", she asked him unsurely. There was no reply and Luminaria rolled the teen on his back. She saw that he was asleep and tucked him back in without waking him up.

She was surprised so much, when Archer's hand shot up and grabbed her wrist, that she almost screamed. "Where's Shiki?", he asked the blonde. This time, he seemed less sore about it and a bit... concerned, though for what she couldn't tell.

"She took Shindou-san to the hospital", Luminaria replied, a bit shakily.

"That's... good", Archer dropped his hand to his side. He looked a bit pensive before locking his gaze up to the blonde and asked, "The police?".

"They're down at the parking lot, checking on the scene", Luminaria felt a bit more relaxed sensing him to be completely calm now. She saw some of Archer's stocked bottles of water and thought to ask, "Are you thirsty Archer-san?".

"A little would go a long way", Archer answered cryptically. Luminaria understood anyway and went to look for a glass under the heaps of stuff Archer had. Said teen on the other hand, was thinking deeply. 'What the hell happened back there?', he thought of when he half-killed Shindou. It felt wierd, like another force took over. Sure he was pissed that Shindou took him lightly so he gave the bastard a couple of broken ribs and jaw to remember by, but for blood to spew everywhere. He couldn't remember it all clearly but he was sure that blood was everywhere. His ribs were sending jolts of warning pain that they could no longer bear the burden he put on them, but still he continued to pound away at the bloody figure as he remembered. Why did he go so far? The fight was already pointless, there was no form of resistance or defiance, nothing worth continuing the assualt for. If Shiki hadn't screamed his name, he would've lost himself completely and killed the guy.

An old mug was held before the long-haired teen filled halfway with water. He looked up at Luminaria questioningly, as far as he remembered, he didn't own mugs cups or whatever. The blonde only answered in a stutter of, "I-I-I f-f-found it in y-your closet". Archer nodded suspiciously and took the drink.

Archer hissed in relief as the cool liquid touched his bruised lips. That Shindou really hit him hard in the face this time. He was thinking over what he did and concluded that what's done was done, there was no need to dwell on it. The issue at hand was the authorities. After that large mess he left, Archer doubted that the police wouldn't get involved sooner or later.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

'Right on time', Archer thought boredly. He stared at the shadows dancing in the small light from the creaks under the door. "Can you get that?", Archer told his blonde watcher.

"Oh, right. Okay", Luminaria stuttered as she got up to open the door. As soon as the clicking sound of the locking mechanism being opened was heard, Luminaria was pusshed back by the sudden intrusion of a man in his early forties with the beginnings of a beard growing on him and a brown coat that identified him as a detective.

Men in blue police uniforms were with him. All in all, there were now five new faces in Archer's cramped apartment. Archer noticed this and told the detective, "Detective Fusui, how many times have I asked you not to bring an entourage into a cramped room. Last time, you tried to fit fourteen police escorts into my hospital room".

The middle-aged man frowned and signaled for his men to leave. Luminaria, who was behind the door, watched as the disgruntled policemen walked out in a sloppy and grumbling single file line. Once all of them were out, Archer and the detective broke out into huge grins. "How've you been sonny boy?", The detective gave Archer a big hug.

"Bah, not much", Archer stiffly hugged back through his injured ribs.

"Sorry 'bout that kid. The boys were looking forward to a bust. Knew it was your handiwork when I saw it. The new guys were pretty shocked with all the blood though. Got stabbed did'ya?", the detective tapped Archer's ribs.

Archer flinched and gingerly touched his wounds saying, "Close enough". "How's the scene anyway?", Archer asked the detective.

"Pretty bad, that mess'll need a couple days to scrub clean and people are talking about someone getting killed. ", the detective took out a smoke and lit it. He took a long drag before saying, "Now I can condone your fighting and stuff since I went through a pretty rough age myself, but answ er me honestly.". The detective stuck his face right in front of Archer with the question, "Did you kill anyone?".

Archer tipped his head to the side and lightly shook his head with the answer, "Don't worry, I didn't. He's almost dead but Shiki is making sure that he's gonna pull through just fine."

"Shiki?", Fusui raised an eyebrow in question. A moment later, a look of realization appeare on his face as he said, "Oh, you mean your girlfriend?".

"She's not my girlfriend old man", Archer lay on his futon grumpily, wishing he didn't have to deal with ths right now.

"Oh really?", the detective asked slyly. "She always seems to be running around you with bandages and the like af ter every scrape you get into.", detective Fusui voiced out his observations.

"Shut up", Archer pulled up his blankets over half his face to hide an oncoming blush of indignity.

"Uuum... Excuse me", a quiet voice interjected.

The middle-aged detective turned his head towards the direction of the voice and was surprised at her presence . "Why hello there!", he greeted jovially.

"Err... Yes, hello. Archer-san still needs his rest. Please finish quickly.", Luminaria asked with the memory of Shiki's instructions.

The detective turned to Archer and nudged him cheekily, saying, "You sly dog, why didn't you tell me about this cute little blonde here?".

"God old man. Shut up and go away.", Archer grumbled and tossed the covers over his head.

"Aww, don't be shy", the detective chuckled.

Archer could take it no longer and exploded in anger. He tossed his covers off and began throwing his pillows at the elder man screaming profanities of, "Get the hell out old man!".

"Oh shi... Ow! You don't have to hit me that ha- Hey! watch where you're aiming. Oi! no low blows", detective Fusui screamed out every now and then as he dodged pillow after projectile pillow.

Luminaria watched the seen unfolding before her with much trepidation and dodging of sleeping gear. Her eyes were wide in both shock and fright of what Archer could do with things as seemingly harmless as pillows.

He finally surrendered to the teen's wishes and left saying, "Fine, I'm going.". Archer listened to the door slam shut, leading to led back into his futon, muttering curses and what not about annoying detectives, their innuendos and making his wounds open up again. Luminaria was still pretty surprised about what had just happened and took a small step when the relative silence which had reigned over the apartment for 2 seconds was rippe d apart yet again. The door slammed back open and detective Fusui said, "I forgot but be careful around these parts. Just yesterday, there was a huge explosion reported around here.". With that said, the detective left the apartment alone for good.

Luminaria went and sat by Archer, remembering the fight between the ant-man and the teen. It did make a huge explosion and it would have been odd if no one had noticed it. Something weighed heavily on Luminaria's head so she asked, "Archer-san. What are you going to do from now on?".

Archer lay there and faced away from the blonde, keeping his answer to himself.

Luminaria decided not to pry further and stood up to go look for food to give Archer. She was stopped by his voice though. "I don't know", Archer declared. She looked back to him and saw nothing but his back but he continued to speak without facing her.

"I honestly don't know what I'll do with this power I have ... But as long as it's with me then I'll fight whatever comes against my path.", Archer replied to her earlier question without looking back. To do that he'd have to learn how to control himself, it wouldn't do to have the police swarming his place just cause he half-killed a bunch of troublemakers. The problem now was this disturbing feeling churning in his gut. He didn't know why but Archer felt that something big was happening with him smack dab in the middle of it all without him knowing.

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A young man in an acid green shirt whistled at the crowd of police. He ran his right hand through his hair, feeling the cold touch of his silver bangle. "That guy sure knows how to make a mess", he sighed. He then grinned and lazily walked away from the apartment building, his white sneakers barely making a sound as they scraped against the pavement. "I guess he won't be able to use biosouls anytime soon. Unless he wants to lose himself in an assimilation reaction.", the guy rambled on to himself. "It's rather interesting that we were the ones chosen for this war. One is still learning his powers and the other...", he paused and looked towards the direction of where he felt a large fluctuation of life energy only biosouls would be capable of. "is being quite the busy bee", he finished and disappeared into the crowd.

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The red-eyed boy from the night before stepped into an empty office building devoid of any life, not even the normal rat nor ant. It was all so dusty with the furniture covered by cloth and dust. "Perfect for a thing like you", he dusted his clothes as he glared a the creature before him. A bone white crow man with a grotesque and skeletal face and physique. It was covered in feathers that did not look soft at all and wings attatched to its arms from the shoulder to its wrists. The boy raised his hand that held a card by his finger tips and brought it to his heart. "Rider gear, activate.", the boy called out.

Circuit like lines shining in red light riddled his skin and coiled about. Slowly, armor materialized over him. The familiar wing-like visor took shape and soon formed the helmet over his head. The vest like armor covered his torso as smooth cloth like material covered his skin. light bracers snapped over his forearms as did lightly armored greaves adorn his feet. With that the transformation completed. The light in the lines shone their brightest as the transformation finished and blasted out a huge gust of wind and dust as they went out in a bright pulse.

The, now transformed, crimson eyed boy locked gazes with the crow and rushed in without warning. The crowman had barely anytime to react before he was hoisted up by an uppercut. Before the next split second could pass, he kicked the crowman right in the stomach and sent it flying into an office room.

He shook his hand to ease the numbness of the hit saying, "So those bony looking feathers really are bones.". With that information in mind, he took out the ornaments on the back of his hands and they extended out into his axe rifles. The handle hollowed out into a gun barrel while the ornament head became the axe head which held the trigger when used as a gun.

He took them both in hand and rushed into the office. He immediately spotted the monster and slashed away. He aimed for the head but missed as the monster ducked under the decapitating strike. The crowman spun behind him and he threw out his other axe in a wide arc to catch the beast. The crow man stretched its bone feathered wing to block the hit and countered with a taloned hand that sparked against the metallic plate of the teen.

It hurt but the teen didn't let it stop him from bringing down the axe that missed right into the bonehead's shoulder. This fazed the monster and the teen slashed his other axe upwards, pushing the crowman back. He flipped his axes and used them as guns, firing round after round of rapid fire into the creature's chest. Dust and smoke swirled about as the bullets resounded hit after hit against the crowman's bones. When it got to smoky to see, the teen stopped and scanned the vicinity using the enhanced vision granted by the visor on his helmet. All was silent save for his breathing and it seemed odd that there was no movement from the beast after only taking so much.

He trained his guns in various directions. Snapping to it at the slightest change of the wind. He didn't expect the roof to comecrashing down on him along with the beast though. It pinned him underneath debris and rubble. The crowman kept on top of the piece of cement pinning the wing-visored warrior down and pulled up its taloned arm. The bony wing extended and the sharp edge of it gleamed in the minute light, preparing to take the teen's head.

As if out of desperation, the red-eyed teen glared right at the beast. He switched his guns to blast shot and fired, causing an explosion which blew the crowman and the rocks off of him.

He picked himself off the ground and shook his head to clear out the confusion from the blast. When his vision seemed safe from spinning, he reverted his axes into ornaments and placed them back into the back of his hands. He grit his teeth as he saw the crowman up and staring him down. "Guess those kinds of attacks don't even faze you huh?", he put his hand up till the spot where his heart should be. "In that case then I'll have to use it", he declared. He plunged his fingers into the what should have been solid armor and pulled out a card. It was similar to the card Archer had in design but had the picture of a black raven on it instead.

The card seemed to trigger something in the beast as it stepped back in fear. The teen held out his left wrist which seemed to have a car reader embedded on it. He straightened out the card and was it about to slash it across the card reader to activate it.

The crowman wasn't about to let that happen though and fired a hail of razor sharp bone feathers at the teen. the wing-visored rider blocked them from hitting his face by raising his arms. Sparks flew from the friction on the metallic parts, which blocked his view. When the teen brought down his arms to activate the card, the crowman had already gone. "Tch, it got away", the teen cussed. He looked down at the card in his hand and said, "Sorry but I guess you're gonna have to wait for another time.".


	4. Chapter 4

**3 scenebreakers make a POV switch, 1 is for flashback and dream sequence.**

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Today was Saturday, it was the start of summer vacation and the weekend after the incident in the parking lot. Shindou was nowhere in the social circulation. He had been discharged from the hospital after awhile and Archer was not surprised to hear nothing close to pressing charges over the issue of half murdering the guy. Following this excellent piece of news, at least to Archer, is the fact that summer started at this very day. The week which he had used for recuperating was nothing more than after exam formalities anyway. His grades were nothing to scoff at. All these factors added up to give Archer a great prospect for his summer vacation, so much he had started planning it out.

There was only one thing that crushed these plans however and it came in the form of a naturally-moccha-tanned-beauty-with-chocolate-brown-pigtails, Shiki.

"Archer! You home?", Shiki slammed the teen's door open.

Archer didn't even cringe as the door sounded like it was about to break. She did it on a near daily basis after all. He looked back at her with a rather pissed off expression. "Stop, breaking my door woman. I've had to replace it twenty-three times last year just cause you kept breaking it down", the teen hissed angrily.

"Oh phooey Ar-chan.", Archer cringed at the irksome nickname that she only used when she was in an extremely great mood. He couldnt blame her, it was summer. "It's just a do--", the words died on Shiki's lips when she saw Archer.

Archer was sitting in front of his foldable table to work on his summer homework. He was wearing nothing more than shorts and an undershirt. He had a stick of pocky hanging out of his mouth. A rather large pair of glasses rested atop his nose and his hair was in its usual messy low ponytail with the right side spiked and the left drooping down. To most, this guy looked like a mess, to Shiki, he looked like an adonis. She saw his signature piercings of 5 silver bands and the silver cross which she always found very sexy. She almost squealed when she glomped Archer's pale lean form.

"What the hell woman?", he stared down at the female that dared to cut the circulation to his lower body. "Get away. I can't feel my legs!", Archer tried to pry her iron grip.

Shiki looked up at him with puppy-dog eyes and demanded, "Come shopping with us".

Archer could not control the tic on his face. "You want me to what?", he slowly repeated with disbelieving ears.

"Come shopping with us", Shiki made this adorable pout that would make a chibi proud.

Archer felt his nerves frazzle from the uncalled for appeal. "No, I'm busy finishing up my summer homework. Now just sit in the corner till the blonde comes back from her bath.", Archer somehow succeeded in unlatching her and set to finish his algebra homework. He took another pocky stick to replace the one that he unknowingly swallowed when the brunette madwoman(to him) had tackled him.

"But- but- we'll ve trying on clothes!", Shiki teared up.

Archer only proceeded to finish his homework on three variable problems. He paid the _supposedly_ enticing offer and ignored the badgering brunette.

She wasn't quick to give up though. She will have him accompany their shopping trip if it was the last thing she did if her name wasn't Shiki Kirin. "It'll be my treat for lunch", she bribed.

Archer's hand stopped for a moment, barely noticeable for any normal person before he continued with his homework. It didn't fool Shiki though, she'd been watching his every move since she first fell for him a year ago. She knew him well enough that he had hesitated in order to consider her offer. "a meal, a beverage and dessert in a fast food chain", she stated the terms.

Archer's hand paused once more, this time for a full five seconds before going on. The sounds of him chewing on the pocky stick started to reach Shiki's ears. A smile tugged at her lips as she upped the ante, " 2 meals, a beverage and dessert".

Now that really got his attention as he completely ceased his writing. The look on Archer's face right now, if Shiki could see it was completely priceless. He was stuck between his stomache and his conviction. Oh which to follow?

It was quite unfortunate for Archer but it had been said that the way to a man's heart is through his stomache, particularly true for guys like him that nourish themselves with nothing but instant meals and snacks. Privileges of real food were far and few in between because of the total workload and price paid just to make even a simple plate of fried rice(IE. rice, garlic, water, soap for cleaning dish, blah blah blah).

Shiki looked a bit smug and said, "Oh fine, family restaurant. 4 courses for all of us with separate dessert, beverages are refillable."

Archer's head turned mechanically to her and knee walked his way in front of her. He had puppy-dog eyes when he asked, "Really?".

Shiki smiled brightly at that. He really looked like a puppy at that moment. "I promise", she said as she patted his head.

It seemed like a gust of wind went through the apartment which threw Shiki's senses into disarray. When she got her bearrings straight, the table was gone as was the homework and Archer stood before her all set to go in his bleached jeans, violet shirt and white jacket. "So when do we go?", Archer asked brightly.

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Archer was soon regreting his choice of free food over freedom, after all free stuff never came for free. Right now, he was stuck in one of the many botiques that Shiki frequented. Luminaria was over in one of the many changing rooms, trying out random articles of clothing handed to her by Shiki.

"Shiki-san, I think this is a bit too tight", Luminaria came out with a rather clingy sleeveless apple green sweater Shiki took up and a long brown skirt that she picked out herself.

"Non-sense, it looks absolutely adorable on you", the brunette approved. "Right Archer?", she asked the bespactacled teen for approval.

Archer sighed and appraised the blonde. Luminaria truly looked nice in it. The sweater clung well to her rather skinny frame and the color livened up her pale blonde hair and snowy skin. The apple green hue also complimented her olivine eyes. The skirt made good compensation when it came to both color contrast and showing of skin. All in all, it quite earned his approval. "It's fine", he nodded slightly to the blonde.

"R-really?", Luminaria was still unsure of herself. Her act of checking herself just reinforced this fact.

"Yes", Shiki rolled her eyes. "Just give yourself a twirl", she pulled at the blonde with a laugh.

Luminaria twirled and couldn't help but laugh as well. Archer was watching this passively. They looked so carefree that what happened a week ago just felt so surreal. Was it really just last sunday that he almost killed a classmate? Was it really just last saturday that he attained this power?

"Hey Archer!", a voice snapped him out of his train of thought. "Hello? Are still with us here?", Archer looked up to the source of the voice and found it to be Shiki.

"Ofcourse woman", he cussed. Archer felt his stomache rumble and checked his watch, only to see that it was already twelve noon. He looked up at the glass filtered sunlight, courtesy of the clear crystal roof of the mall. It was almost blinding to his eyes. He turned to the two heavily burdened women and offered, "Lunch?".

"Are you paying?", Luminaria asked innocently.

Archer just smirked and simply answered, "No". He pointed at the heavily burdened Shiki and announced, "She is". With that he walked off with a happy feeling in his stomache.

"If I'm paying then at least help with carrying these bags!", Shiki called out to him with a pout.

Archer gave her a look, then the bags in her hands, and finally his empty palms which he had kept in his pockets. He gave her a look again and sighed, pocketed his empty hands and walked off towards the promised restaurant without so much as a word.

Lunch was a boisterous matter. It involved a lot of attempted over-the-table-hugs on Shiki's part, stopping said over-the-table-hugs on Archer's part and repeling human koala with the spare set of silver ware on their four person table. It was after all these hulabaloo where the last dregs of baby back ribs, the barbeque platter special and cajun grill shrimp meal were all being consumed by Archer as the girls discussed their purchases.

"I can't believe I bought this!", Luminaria blushed crimson at the black spaghetti strap top in her hands. It was rather conservative but the back could've been provided a bit more of the warm cloth it was made with.

"Ofcourse Lu-chan, I got that for you. I thought it would look gorgeous on you so I just dropped it in our buying pile without you noticing.", Shiki said cheerfully as she was going through the bags. She pulled out what looked to be a powder blue blouse and tsked. "This looked so much better in the shop when I bought it, maybe I should have it changed?", the brunette frowned.

"I'm sure it'll look wonderful on you Shiki-san", Luminaria commented with a smile.

As the girls were discussing wether baby blue was Shiki's color, Archer was tearing a chunk of meat from the drumstick with his fork and eating with the grace and alacrity of a skilled but starving gentleman. Unlike his two companions, he was thinking of how his summer would be spent. He had plans to press on with his education via self study. Buying books and learning them his way would save him a lot of cash and headaches compared to getting others to teach him their take on theories, equations and views on past events. He also had to start with his college plans, he was only an incoming junior but planning ahead was always welcome. He wanted to have a sure pick of schools rather than panicing himself half to death over which college to get into.

All of it would come to fruition though if only a certain factor didn't suddenly barge into his life. Archer finished his meal and leaned against the back rest of the cushioned bench. He could feel the weight of the micro-computer in his pocket. The monster he had fought wasn't the last, he could tell. There was also the case of that other guy in the armor who attacked him. The most puzzling of all was something much closer to him. Archer laid his eyes on Luminaria who was laughing with Shiki as they were checking out a brown jacket Luminaria had gotten against Shiki's fashion advices. Just who was she? She just popped out of nowhere and tossed him a burden that he felt insecure to part with.

The power he gained was not something he wanted but it wasn't something he wasn't willing to part with though, not because he felt elated by its use but because it seemed necessary. Some instinct in him said that no matter how much he wanted to get rid of this troublesome woman and thing, trouble would find him and it would come in the form of those monsters and that armored guy. Losing this power now would like be throwing his knife away in a war while his enemies had guns.

"I know!", Shiki exclaimed, snapping Archer out of his line of thought. The brunette lifted a finger to her finley shaped lips which were in a playful smile. "Archer, when was the last time we redid your wardrobe?", she asked.

Archer looked away and obligingly answered, "The Christmas before last". He knew where this was going, he didn't like it but he'd appreciate it all the same.

Luminaria looked confused at the look on Archer's face and the suddenly delighted expression on Shiki. "Wonderful!", Shiki almost screamed. She looked at Archer longingly and Archer did nothing but sigh. Shiki cheered in her seat, "It's time, to buy Archer new clothes!"

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After three hours of having his dignity shredded Archer was exhaustedly walking beside Luminaria with at least 7 bags of varying articles of clothing. Taking her place at point of the group, Shiki was giggling madly to herself. The blonde girl beside him whispered in curiosity, "Is she always this...", Luminaria paused due to lack of words, "odd?".

"You have no idea.", Archer spoke with exasperation. At least, that's how Luminaria heard it, she could very well mistake it for fatigue. After all, three hours of changing clothes in and modeling for Shiki had to be exhausting at some point in time. He took one glance at the bags in his hand and immediately decided, "I'm gonna have to give away some from my old wardrobe again."

Luminaria thought that maybe Archer had enough for the day. She herself was barely scraping by with Shiki's pace so it might have been best if they headed back. "Shiki-san", Luminaria called the brunette's attention.

"What is it Lu-chan?", Shiki said in a sing song tone, she was still in absolute bliss after seeing Archer in so many outfits.

Luminaria almost cringed from that million watt smile on her face. Both she and Archer were beginning to wonder where she hid all that stamina. The concerned blonde plowed on unsurely, "Maybe, we should go... home? Archer-san looks pretty tired.".

The girls looked at Archer and he looked quite unsteady on his feet as he fussed to keep hold on the bags in his hands. "You're right", Shiki frowned cutely in thought. "What should we do. We haven't bought Lu-chan's underwear yet."

"Don't say that so casually!", Luminaria blushed crimson.

Archer urked. Why the hell was such a simple situation escalating into something even stupider than it already was? "just go", Archer heaved a heavy sigh. He urged himself to look around and found a suitable cafe no more than ten feet away. Archer immediately 'fell' on a chair, fell because his legs basically gave out. "I'll stay here and get me a coffee. You girls go and have fun", he waved dismissively.

Shiki gave him a critical gaze and stated with hands on hips, "I thought you were broke?".

Archer looked irritated as he said, "It's a cup of coffee not a bottle of vintage wine, now get". He shooed them away for good this time.

Shiki and Luminaria were walking away but the brunette paused and told Archer, "Just call us if you need us. We'll be at the Purple Sakura if you need us".

"Right", Archer drawled to himself as he sat in the chair. Might as well get himself a coffee, he was borrowing a seat from this cafe after all. A waitress approached him, her uniform clashed very much with the expression on her face. She had mean looking eyes and short hair highlighted by tints of pine green on a cute face that was set in the fakest mask of happiness he had ever seen. He couldn't blame her, she was wearing something that looked like a maid outfit but modified ever so slightly with a lot less frills but a bit shorter than normal. It must have been very mortifying to wear it, explaining the look on her face.

"Welcome to Bitter-sweet cafe, how may I serve you?", she spoke with a tone so nice it almost seemed real. Archer could tell though it wasn't real, he dealt with fakes everyday of his life.

"Just a regular coffee please.", Archer nodded to her. He had planned to at least finish the piece of summer homework he had started on. The caffiene would come in handy when the time came.

She jotted down the order and asked, "Would you like anything else with that?"

"No thank you", Archer declined, "Just a coffee will do"

After an hour or so Archer was already on his fifth cup of hot coffee. It was about time for him to head out to where the girls were was what his watch was telling him. A thump from the seat across surprised the teen just enough for his hand to pause midway in reaching for his coffee.

"Mind if I sit here?", A lazy voice spoke. He didn't seem all that concerned about the reply though.

Archer observed the man across from him. Probably around the same age as himself, slightly long buzz cut, acid green shirt, knapsack danglingoff the shoulder, mischievous eyes and a cocky smirk. It had been awhile since he'd seen the same features in one person. The only new additions were the silver ware dangling around the guy's neck and wrist.

Archer smirked himself with a reply, "Yeah, I do mind".

"Too bad I'm staying anyway.", was the comeback.

The smirks on both faces seemed to stretch into similar grins before both exploded into laughter. "Hahaha! What the hell are you doing over here?", Archer asked the green shirted guy.

"Just seeing some old friends", was the cryptic reply.

"I see some things never change. You still love making other people guess what you're up to." , the spectacled teen shook his head as he took a sip of his coffee.

"On the other hand you've changed a lot. I barely recognized you with that tail behind your head. It didn't help that you got so skinny. If I didn't know any better I'd have thought you were a chick.", guffawed the man across Archer.

"Very funny", Archer said with dry amusement. He took another sip of his coffee again and placed it back in its saucer. He took a deep breath before asking, "Seriously, why are you here? The Praxis Animus Orares that I know of doesn't believe in visiting old friends. If he did then he must've changed much more than I."

"Hmph, smart as always.", Praxis leaned over the table. "I would've been disappointed otherwise.", he pulled back and continued, "but I really am just here to see some old friends. Common acquaintances between us, believe it or not.".

Archer's eyes widened, "You mean-"

Prax nodded, "Yeah, those guys are around here too."

Archer looked agitated by the piece of news. "What are they doing here in Japan? I thought this would be the last place those idiots would go to.", the teen irritably said through grit teeth.

Praxis raised an eyebrow and told Archer as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "Hello? Land of gadgetry and anime? Ofcourse they're here for vacation, not permanent residence like you."

Archer's countenance didn't change from its agitated nature. "Don't say it like you're not a part of them. I'm still plenty pissed off at you guys for back then."

"Hey man, cheer up. Past is past, you're the one who always said to live the present.", Praxis shrugged.

Archer looked at him darkly and downed his coffee all in one go, "And you're the one who said that you shouldn't forget every deed done unto you, good or bad."

Praxis laughed out loud, "True enough". He leaned over the table again and said quietly with a grin, "Why don't we change this tense atmosphere with a little game?"

"I've had more than enough of your games since back then", Archer placed some money for the coffee on the table and grabbed his things to leave.

Praxis stopped him when he spoke. "You don't really have a choice you know? You already have your entry form in the shape of that Transcender", the green shirted guy drawled. He snuggled into the cushioned chair and continued, "You should check on your new friends, they might be _crushed _by your absence."

"What the hell do you-", Archer angirly turned to face the cryptic friend but coudn't find him. "-mean?", he finished in a daze of confusion. He had a bad feeling about this. He ran in the direction of the Purple Sakura, it was then he was sruck with an intense stream of emotions flowing into him. Similar to when he found that ant man only this time, it wasn't the wish to prove one's self but an intense emptiness seemed to carve into his soul.

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"Shiki-san! Shiki-san!", Luminaria tried to shake her companion awake. The Purple Sakura was in a mess, people were running out, some of them dead. Their bodies were strewn about with various articles of clothing on the floor with their respective racks or shelves. Blood was seeping from the victims and into the clothes. In short, it looked like a massacre. Luminaria was trying to awaken a knocked out Shiki who was currently pinned beneath a shelf of clothes so they could escape through the nearby exit themselves. "Shiki-san please wake up!", called out the alarmed Luminaria.

A light click clack sound against the cement floor and a low screech alerted Luminaria of the store's attacker. She lifted her head and saw the monstrous white crow that trashed the whole area. It seemed to be searching for more things to kill, she just knew it. She turned to try and wake Shiki again but froze in place as an intense feeling overwhelmed her senses. A feeling of emptiness and a meaningless existence. A meaningless existence that sought meaning in this battle, in killing or being killed. In the moment of destruction that could either be caused or received, was all that how this monster felt? Luminaria stiffly looked towards the hideous bone white crow-man, it was meeting her gaze with it's own hollow eyes.

"The next one", the terrified blonde swallowed, "is me?"

The crowman just raised its hand before its face in response as the bladed feathers grew on the wings beneath its arms. In one quick motion faster than the eye could see, the crowman tossed a feather at the roof above Luminaria. The blonde's natural response was to run away but she couldn't, not out of fear but because if she moved away, the one in danger would be Shiki. She knelt down and covered the brunette as best as she could with her petite frame.

The rocks fell and crashed about Luminaria, everything was going dark as she felt pain bear down upon herself. All she hoped was that the companion beneath her was saved. A voice called out to her, it was familiar but at the same time not.

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Archer came onto the scene of Purple Sakura, expecting anything but the scene before him. It was carnage beyond he thought humanly possible. In the middle of all the death and chaos stood a single being. A hidoues amalgam of both man and crow in the most sickening shade of bleached white bone. Its ivory carved features horridly detailed that put any skeletal model to shame. What really caught Archer's eye was the person beyond the skeletal creature though. 'That blonde?', he thought to himself.

Luminaria stood frozen before the creature as if out of fear but Archer knew otherwise. He knew she felt it too, the emotions this beast was giving off, that was what kept her frozen like that. It raised its arm before its hideous face and Archer knew he had to do something before the girl died. He dropped his bags and ran at the skeletal creature before it was too late but unfortunately, it already was. The crow-man tossed something quickly whistling through the air. "Run!", Archer shouted as he could do nothing but watch the the ceiling break and eventually crash on top of Luminaria. Everything seemed to move at slow motion as the Archer saw Luminaria toss herself down on the ground. Archer was confused at first but soon saw the reason why the blonde did as she did. 'Shiki', he thought.

He could do nothing but watch the two girls be engulfed in the crumbling stones as he ran towards them with no hope of reaching in time. When the last stone hit the ground, it was as if something in Archer snapped. "Bastard!", Archer seethed with boiling rage. The teen jumped and delivered a drop kick to the creature but to no affect besides him bouncing off the armored feathers of bone.

The skeletal crow turned to Archer and saw him land on his feet. The next one, it would be Archer. Said teen could tell from the wierd empathy that connected them. "Hell no", Archer growled as he brought out the micro-computer that had kept him alive that night. He typed in: Rider gear standby.

"RIDER GEAR, STANDING BY", the robotic voice panned. "AWATING TRANSMISSION AND VOICE VERIFICATION."

Archer raised the small machine up and called out, "Transmit!".

"TRANSMIT!", the robotic voice echoed.

Same as that night, a blinding light pierced from the heavens outside the window and found its way to engulf the teen in bluish white light. Heavy greaves and gauntlets materialized over his feet and hands. A sturdy looking breastplate and direct connected should armor attatched onto his body, all the while as a skin fit suit covered his whole body beneath all the armor. A belt clasped onto his waist while his insectoid helmet took shape. With those last pieces, the transformation completed with a blast of wind.

"Let's go!", Archer slammed the graveyard in his belt buckle. The lines riddling his suit began to light up as he ran towards the crow for another attack.

He threw a right punch that was both anticipated and parried by the crow-man. It kicked him in the side and tossed him while twisting his arm. Archer fell on the ground and flinched from the pain. There was no time for that though as he saw the creature's hand making for his face with talons poised to mutilate him. In a split second reaction, Archer shifted his head just a little to let the talons stab into the ground. He grabbed the crow-man's arm and used it as an anchor to land an upward thrust kick to the skeletal crow's face.

The creature staggered back as the transformed teen scrambled back on his feet. Said teen charged almost immediately with an uppercut that connected. In return he received a fist to the face which hurt even when protected by the helmet. The crow-man grabbed him by the neck and slashed the chest piece with its talons. Sparks flew as the mere force of the strike caused Archer's legs to buckle in the hit's direction. The crow-man then followed up with a backhand that sent Archer flipping over and landing on his stomache.

The monster trudged through clothes and knocked away bargain bins as it made its way to Archer. The transformed teen took that time to recover as the beast hoisted him by the back of his neck. Before it could do anything else, Archer gave a battle cry and punched the beast as hard as he could. The grip on him loosened but not enough to escape from, so he gave another hit, and another, and another, and another. Until both were standing with Archer still dealing hits. Archer finally gave it one strong right hook and grabbed it in a tackle. He held onto the beast till they crashed through a window and into the parking lot beside it.

The crow flipped Archer over into a parked car's bumper. A huge dent was left where Archer hit the car. It was pretty bad but he could still move through the mind blurring pain. He wasn't the only one though as the crow-man took a bit of time to regain its senses.

Archer decided to end it quick, he still had to help the girls after all. He pulled out the same card he used that night. "Storm Beetle", he read. He wrapped his fist around it and crushed the card. He opened his palm to let the fragments fall, as his hand cackled to life with electricity. he closed it tightly as more power flowed into the limb. The crow-man saw this and began to metamorphose into a stronger form with its wings bigger to the point it outstripped its arms now as new wings sprouted from its back and waist. The head grew even more grotesquely pointed with the number of eyes increasing. It's feathers grew increasingly pointed followed by the extending talons.

"Haah!", Archer ran forward without care. He jumped to use his body's momentum in the punch. The crow-man merely blocked with its wings. The elctricity that enveloped Archer's hand grew exponentially in power as he tried to drive it through the shield of bone. Cement gave out as the crow-man tried to push back and its bone wings began to crack. It saw this and decided against pushing back, opting to deflect Archer's strike to the side.

Archer crashed into the paved ground or the parking lot. He stood to hit the crow-man once more with his attack but just as he and the crow-man were poised for the clash, the elctricity in Archer's hand died out in a spark similar to how it started. "What? Not now", Archer grabbed his hand by the wrist, trying to feel where the power had went.

The crow-man took this oppurtunity to slash Archer with its razor bonewing. Archer saw it coming and blocked it with his arm. If it weren't covered with heavy gauntlets, the teen was sure that his arm wouldn't be attatched anymore. Archer was too slow to react to the next move though and he was also sure that if he didnt have his armor he would've been dead then and there, as the talons stabbed into his abdomen. Thankfully it barely went through the surface of the armor. he crow-man cawed screeched in annoyance and ran its talons upwards, leaving four parallel lines running up the suit's armor as well as sending the wearer sailing through the air.

"This is bad", Archer struggled to his feet.

The creature lifted both its wings before it. Archer didn't know what was gonna happen next but it wasn't going to be pleasant. The crow-man flung its arms out and Archer could only react on instinct by covering his face.

BANG BANG BANG

Blasts resounded in the parking lot. Archer slowly opened his eyes as pain seared into his right leg and left fore arm. He looked to see blood flowing from himself with a foot blade piercing right through the armor and bone of his shin as with the case of his left arm. "Damn this hurts", he cussed to himself. The pain was so great he didn't register the new presence behind him until it walked past him.

It was the rider with the wing visor. He had one of his axe-rifles out, trained at the crow-man. The wing-visored rider didn't even pay Archer any mind as he walked past the teen. The wing-visored rider took out his other axe-rifle from the ornament behind his hand and held it as an axe. His walk quickened in its pace and the crow-man was gaging its options of whether to run or fight. When the wing-visored rider finally broke out in a run, the crow-man decided to do something similar and made to retreat.

Crimson eyes flashed behind the lensed helm of the rider, he would not let his prey escape twice. He fired his single axe-rifle to cut off any intent to escape by the crow. The crow-man, seeing escape being not an option, declared combat by striking out with its razor wing. The wing-visored rider met it head-on with his axe.

Sparks literally flew as metal screeched on bone. Archer watched the fight as he carefully and painfully pulled out the blades from his wounds. He wasn't thrilled that he had to be saved by that guy of all people but he was thankful he didn't die all the same. The important thing now was to get himself back in shape, enough to get the girls out of that rubble.

The wing-visored rider was now using both axe-rifles as axes, hacking away at the boney exterior of the crow. The crow was taking damage but they were all minimal as it blocked each and every strike. The wing-visored rider swung low with his right axe for a sweep. The crow hopped over it and responded with a vertical wing slash as it fell. The wing-visored rider blocked it with his left axe. The impact was strong enough that even with the block, the blade touched the rider's shoulder. With experienced reflexes, the rider brought his right axe into gunmode before the crow could cut him and exchanged a blast shot with the crow's slash.

The crow was sent flying back and the wing-visored rider saw this as a great chance. He put his hand to his chest. From a distance, Archer was wondering what the guy was doing. The wing-visored rider clawed at where his heart should be. His hand sank in to the surprise of Archer. The guy pulled out his hand suddenly and revealed to have a card in his finger's grip with circuit lines running all over it. He flipped it over and showed it to his opponent. "Black Raven", it read.

The wing-visored rider slashed the card across the reader on his wrist. The card burst into flames as it was slashed. He raised his arm and out of seemingly nowhere above his raised hand, a large bird of complete darkness appeared. It flew out of thin air nearing mach speeds. Throwing debris from the crushed pavement and the destroyed wall in the air. He ran forward as the large black bird made a dive bomb right for his destination, the crow-man. The black bird landed right where he passed at the exact same moment, before the crow-man. The bird of inky blackness seemed to color in the wing-visored rider as gray steel turned reflective black, blue cloth underneath turned red as dried blood and his visor changed from an azure blue to a blank white. Physically, his armor was added with layers of feather designed scales which added protection without sacrificing movement and shoulder pads that resembled wing feathers pointing upwards. The bracers and greaves turned scaly as fingers sharpened into talons.

He jumped as feathers of inky blackness scatterred through the air. With a flip, The dark armored rider landed a clean flying kick. It was strong enough that the crow beast went flying through the air and into a car, causing an explosion. The rider landed easily on his feet in a semi-crouch from the force and took out another card. Without showing what it was, he dropped it and crushed the card under his right foot. It was about time to end this little game of cat-and-mouse.

The crow-man flew back out of the explosion, riding the wind with it's light skeletal wings. The dark armored rider twisted his foot, crushing further the tiny fragments of the card's remains. His foot glowed with sinister red and black energy. He ran forward with greater speed than before. The searing energy burning against the ground was audible enough for even Archer, who was well out of the fight's area, to hear it. The dark-armored rider jumped high and sent a kick barreling right into the crow-man. The creature stopped mid-flight to raise its wings for a block similar as to what it did against Archer.

The two clashed, bone shield against a strike of raw power. The crow-man landed on the ground with its taloned feet digging into the pavement while the wing-visored rider's kick did not end. It kept on and drilled right through the bone shield, planting itself firmly on the crow-man's chest. The crow-man was not to let itself end this way as it struggled to deflect the strike with the mere strength of its body. The wing-visored rider was not to let this be as he brought down his none charged foot onto the crow's shoulder, causing the beast to buckle underneath the force. Using the uncharged foot as a hook, he flipped off with great force, kicking the creature's with the energized limb in the process.

The dark-armored rider twisted in mid-air and landed gracefully in a semi-crouch facing away from the enemy. The crow-man was on its last legs as it lifted its arm to throw a ast strike of feathers against the rider. before it could fling its arms, a surge of energy burst forth from it and completely consumed the creature.

The wing-visored rider held his arm out as light gathered into the shape of a card. On the card was a picture of a snow white crow, it had a regal presence to it as compared to the creature earlier, White Crow was its name. The rider placed it above his heart and it sank in as bright red light pulsed through the circuit lines running about the suit.

The rider turned to the helpless Archer and pulled out one of the wing ornaments on his shoulders. The feather's folded together and formed a reverse saber, the base snapped together with the handle head to form a small pistol. This alarmed Archer who stopped from his unsuccessful activity of pulling out the bone blades from his wounds. The pistol was aimed at Archer and even as the target, the wounded teen could see the sights so cleanly set that he traced the aim from his eye to where the dark-armored rider's own supposedly rested. The sounds of police sirens could be heard in the background, still neither moved. Slowly as if coming to a decision over something deliberated with utmost care. The wing-visored rider walked away without so much as pausing and went right through a wall. Behind, he left a scarred battleground and an injured Archer, in both body and spirit.

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SPECIAL INFORMATION!

-From this chapter onwards, special information will be added to the end of every chapter consulting the various mysterious abilities of the riders. But due to a rather lazy self I blame to be born into me, I will only disclose one ability per chapter.

Wing-visored rider AKA. Kamen Rider Ecto  
-His real identity and official moniker in this fic is known as Kamen Rider Ecto.  
-One of his rider gear's abilities is to walk through walls via special cross-dimensional travel. Due to the system imperfections, this jump can only be activated to a certain level that affects only one dimension of existence as opposed to a complete dimension jump which affects all dimensions of existence. Here Ecto uses the ability of his by jumping his physical existence to another dimension to walk through the wall.


End file.
